


Choices We Make

by angellwings



Series: We [1]
Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Love, Speculation, Spoilers, Spoilers for 2x04, do you get that there are spoilers yet?, speculation for 2x03, speculation for 2x04, spoilers for 2x03
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-04-06 08:19:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14052813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angellwings/pseuds/angellwings
Summary: Spoilers & Speculation for 2x03 and 2x04. If you do not wish to read fics that involve speculation and spoilers then probably don't read this. If you DO want to read speculation and spoilers, here's a summary:Lucy makes a promise she's not sure she wants to keep.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So first of all this fic is ENTIRELY speculation for 2x04. **Definitely contains some spoilers for 2x03 and 2x04.** I don't know too much but I do know some things. I took the few things I know and wrote this.  
>  2x04 probably most likely (definitely) will not go down like this, but this is my DREAM of how it goes down. Like its' my favorite theory in my head and I could not stop until I wrote it. Because I want Wyatt to be as honest with Lucy as he can be. I want him to tell her because he trusts her. I don't want him to just disappear and leave her in the dark. So, this is my take on Wyatt going to Lucy for help. I hope you guys like it.  
> Shout out to **Iambeck** for editing this for me! She's AMAZING.  
>  Happy reading!  
> angellwings

"If the Mothership goes _anywhere_ call me," Wyatt said as they huddled close together in the living room of the bunker. "I swiped a burner from one of Christopher's guys." He placed a scrap of paper in her hand and made sure to catch her eye. "That's the number, okay? Call me. I don't care what else is going on. I'll come back."

"Wyatt," Lucy said with a sigh and a shake of her head. "Just focus on getting your answers, okay? One problem at a time. We'll be fine."

He quirked a brow at her with a stern expression. "I'm not kidding, Lucy. You _call_ me. My job is to protect you and Rufus and I'm not running out on that. Not now."

She gave him a doubtful look but eventually nodded. "Fine, I'll call you."

He looked as though he wanted to say something else. What it was he wanted to say, she couldn't be sure. She didn't know what either of them _could_ say. Jessica was alive. Everything was different. And yet it wasn't. Wyatt was still dedicated to stopping Rittenhouse. He was still her friend. Whatever else he was beyond that was completely uncertain but the essentials were all still true.

Including their essential talent for horrible timing.

* * *

If there was ever a mission Lucy enjoyed more than this one, she couldn't think of it. Her mind was clouded with Hedy Lamarr, Citizen Kane, singing to a room full of golden age talent (and Wyatt), his heartstopping confession, and their many kisses by that Fireplace in 1941. It was a heady mix of romance and adventure and all her wildest day dreams.

They'd taken care of the sleeper and during their escape they'd manage to bring back the Sleeper's briefcase. Agent Christopher had called them all together because they'd found a key piece of Rittenhouse intel hidden inside of it. Christopher had it examined and based on some of Ethan's evidence they were able to decode it.

The intel had Jessica Logan listed with an address and the name "Amanda."

Her haze of happiness faded immediately. Never had she gone from such a high to such an extreme low in a shorter amount of time.

Lucy remembered the silence that fell across the room as Christopher revealed what they'd learned. She'd said it as gently as she could with her eyes focused only on Wyatt. He'd visibly unraveled faster and more dramatically than he had at the Alamo. They didn't know what the evidence meant but Lucy's actively breaking heart still belonged to him.

Wife or no wife. She couldn't let him cope with that alone. So she'd steadied him with an arm around his back and let him lean against her.

Christopher then proceeded to bring up her theory and Lucy, never one to want to disrespect Denise's leadership, had snapped at her. She thought Jessica was Rittenhouse. Wyatt's Jessica. Given how they'd found the name it was an unfortunately sound theory but to bring it up immediately after telling Wyatt his wife was likely still alive was too much.

"Give him a minute," Lucy said as she glared at the Agent.

Lucy led Wyatt away from the group that sat in front of the monitors and into the kitchen. She sat him down at one of the metal tables and got to work making tea. Honestly, she didn't know what else to do. She let him sit in stunned silence while she heated the water and bit her bottom lip to keep the tears at bay. He didn't need her blubbering right now.

"It's not possible," Wyatt said. Those were the first words he'd spoken since Christopher dropped her truth bomb. "How could she be-she can't be Rittenhouse. Did they even check out that address? She may not even be there."

He had a good point.

He sighed and shook his head. "I can't just let them assume-Lucy." He stopped his sentence short and turned to face her as the kettle in front of her whistled.

She knew what he wanted. He wanted her to look at him. To talk to him. To make sure he hadn't lost her.

He couldn't lose her, but she knew she had lost him.

She gulped and took a breath before turning to face him. "I hear you," she said with a sigh of her own.

She poured the water and then dropped in two tea bags of whatever soothing herbal thing Jiya drank. She set one down in front of him and then sat down in the chair next to his.

"What do I do?" He asked. His tone sounded as though it contained every emotion a person could possibly feel. It was impossible to describe. He looked at her apologetically as if he felt guilty for coming to her of all people but she could see the desperation behind them. He genuinely didn't know who else to turn to.

"If they think she's Rittenhouse why haven't they arrested her?" Lucy asked. She was hoping to get him past the panic by asking him questions she knew he was qualified to answer. He needed to be thinking in addition to feeling.

Distancing herself from the situation was a nice distraction for her too.

"Evidence," he said immediately. "All that paper does is make her a person of interest. They could question her but then they run the risk of tipping her off and if they tip her off-"

"She could run," Lucy finished for him. "Got it. So, what, they'll just watch her instead?"

"Probably, and wait for her to incriminate herself or lead them to a bigger fish," Wyatt answered.

Lucy shook her head. She knew Wyatt. She knew him too well. Probably and maybe and could be were not concepts he handled well. He wanted answers. He _needed_ answers.

"If Christopher won't talk to her then you should," Lucy said as she continued to bite her bottom lip. This was probably a bad idea. But he wouldn't rest with anything less. "You should take that address, find her, and talk to her. Maybe you won't get the answers to the questions Christopher has but you could get the answers to all of yours."

Wyatt's eyes met hers in shock and disbelief. But a second later she saw determination in them instead. She felt fear and worry bubble up inside of her.

He didn't think Christopher was right, but she might be. He needed to be prepared. She could understand wanting it not to be true, she'd been there, but she hoped he wouldn't be completely crushed if Jessica disappointed him.

"Wyatt, just...be careful," Lucy said with a tired sigh. "If she's alive and she's been hiding out all these years, she has to have a reason. It may not be what you want it to be." Even to her own ears she sounded defeated. She'd lost Wyatt already. She just knew it. Something about this felt wrong and she was afraid Wyatt might end up broken all over again.

She was already broken beyond repair. But it wasn't too late for him.

He shook his head. "There's some other reason. There has to be. I have to get to out of here and see her for myself."

His blue eyes met her brown ones and silently pleaded for her help. She didn't even have to answer him. Just like that she knew she'd been talked into helping him plan his escape.

* * *

And now here they were, early the next morning, executing a hasty plan of escape from the bunker. Christopher's agents had a shift change soon and then Wyatt would make his move. He could sneak up and out in the few minutes it took for the agents to trade off. She was to keep an eye out in the bunker and stall if necessary.

It reminded her of the night Wyatt stole the Lifeboat and yet it didn't. He wasn't risking everything this time. He was adamant that they call him should Rittenhouse make a move.

"Wyatt, you might have Jessica back," Lucy said with a forced smile. "Don't you think you should focus on that?"

He shook his head at her and immediately replied. "No. Having her back wouldn't be worth losing you," he paused and met her eyes with an urgent look that she didn't know how to define. Really, she didn't know how to define anything anymore. Not between the two of them.

He leaned into her space and his eyes drifted to her lips. She felt his hand gently caress her cheek before she finally forced herself to take one large step away from him.

He wanted to kiss her and, even worse, she wanted to kiss him. It might be her last chance to do so, but, god help her, she couldn't do that to either of them. It hurt too much.

"Go, Wyatt. _Go_ , before the others wake up," she told him with a deep fortifying breath. She could do this. She could send him back to Jessica. He'd wanted it for so long and she couldn't stand in his way now.

He took several steps before turning to face her one last time. She'd seen that face before. Two times, actually. Once when he'd left her in the fifties and once when she'd left him behind in that artillery tent. He _had_ to go. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't.

"Good luck," she felt herself say. Her voice sounded thick with emotion and she knew as soon as he was gone that she'd collapse. It also wasn't lost on her that she'd bid him goodbye with those same words once before.

He gulped and she heard his voice catch as he replied, "Thank you, ma'am."

_Why does this feel like we're saying goodbye?_

Her voice from all those months ago echoed in her head. Same song, different verse. Was she cursed or something? Was everything good in her life destined to be taken from her? She made a hasty retreat to the bathroom once he was out of her field of vision and made sure she shoved the damn chair in front of the door. This was the only place with any hint of privacy. Once that was done, she cried. She cried just as long and hard as she had the first time he left her behind to save Jessica.

She didn't know how many minutes had passed but she suddenly heard alarms outside of the bathroom door. _The Mothership_. She straightened up and washed her face, but nothing could help how puffy her eyes were. She sighed and decided to blame it on lack of sleep. They would all believe that. She moved the chair and rushed toward the monitors to find Rufus and Jiya reaching them the same time that she did.

Rufus looked around the room and then gave Lucy a suspicious glance. "Where's Wyatt?"

She looked away from him and then shrugged. "He wasn't in his bed?"

"No," Rufus said as he gave her an unsure glance. "I wouldn't have asked otherwise."

"Are you okay?" Jiya asked with a furrowed brow. "Your eyes look kinda...red."

"Just tired," she said with a sigh before she marched past them to the monitor. "The Mothership jumped," she read.

"To where?" Rufus asked. He shook himself and then rolled his eyes. "Sorry, _when_?"

"1692," Lucy read aloud and as she reached the location she suddenly felt very ill. "In what's today known as Danvers, Massachusets."

Jiya's eyes widened and Lucy heard her gulp in the silence of the bunker. It was deafening. "Massachusets in 1692? Um, wasn't that the-"

"Salem Witch Trials," Lucy confirmed as she closed her eyes tightly. God, this day just kept getting worse.

"Great," Rufus exclaimed with false enthusiasm before his face became very tight and drawn. "We need Wyatt. He's our white privilege ticket through history. Lucy, where is he?"

"How should I know?" Lucy asked with a roll of her eyes.

"Yeah, I'd work on your lying before Christopher gets here," Rufus warned her. "If I'm not buying it then she sure as hell won't."

The piece of paper with the number to Wyatt's burner phone was still in her hand. She'd never let it go. She'd clutched it while she cried like the last piece of him she'd ever hold.

"He's not here," Lucy finally admitted. "We'll have to do this without him."

Rufus still didn't look convinced. "He didn't leave you with a way to contact him?"

She crumpled the scrap of paper while it was fisted in her hand. "He has other problems to focus on right now, Rufus. Time travel is the least of his worries."

She knew she'd evaded his actual question, but Wyatt hadn't had enough time. There was no way he'd found her by now. He needed answers. He needed Jessica. He didn't need her. She had to start fighting without him. They all did.

"Anybody going to call Christopher or what?" Lucy asked with an irritated huff. "Every moment we waste is another chance for Emma to change history."

Jiya gave Rufus a questioning glance and he shook his head helplessly before finally shrugging. "I guess we do this without him," he said with a furrowed brow. "And probably both end up burned at the stake. Fun times."

"They're more likely to hang us than burn us," Lucy offered.

Rufus rolled his eyes. "Oh, that's better then," he said dryly as he picked up the bunker's landline and called Agent Christopher. "He really didn't leave a number or an email or a-I don't know-walkie talkie or something?" He asked her again while he waited for Christopher to answer.

Despite her feelings of irritation and sadness Lucy let out a small chuckle. "No, he didn't leave a walkie talkie."

"They're not gonna let you guys go out there without muscle," Jiya said thoughtfully. "They'll have to find someone."

"Who?" Rufus asked with a scoff. "I mean who else has experience with time travel?"

There was a beat of quiet before all three sets of eyes exchanged looks of realization.

"Nope," Rufus said with a passionate shake of his head. "Hell no. I refuse. I am not time traveling with Garcia Flynn."

"I don't think you'll have a choice," Jiya told him sympathetically just as Agent Christopher answered the call.

Rufus didn't have a choice, but _Lucy_ did. She stepped away from Rufus and Jiya as they explained the situation to Christopher and discretely tossed the scrap of paper into the trash. She'd made her choice. She was leaving him behind. Wyatt Logan had other priorities now and she wasn't going to keep him from them.

He had what he wanted now and maybe that was better? Maybe she could put all of her focus where it should have always been. _On taking out Rittenhouse._ Focus on the jump. You've jumped without Wyatt before and you can do it again, she told herself.

He was going to move on. From her, from the team. She might as well too. Hell, maybe this way she'd get a head start.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was only going to do a second part but then I sat down to write it and it's become much larger than I intended lol. So this will be a story in a total of six parts. Happy reading!

(2/6)

He felt like he'd been torn in two.

One half of him, wanted to say to hell with it and stay in the bunker with Lucy. The other half, couldn't stand the idea of Christopher assuming his wife (ex-wife? What do you call a wife who faked her death and ran away from you?) was Rittenhouse. He knew Christopher wouldn't talk to her. The Agent had already made up her mind. So, if he wanted answers, he would have to talk to her himself.

The half of him that wanted to go after Jessica didn't know what to feel. Relief that she was alive? Anger because she'd left him behind? Heartbreak because she let him think it was his fault? All three?

To top it all off, he was having to lean on Lucy for help. Lucy who'd lost everything. Lucy who'd picked him up from the self loathing sludge he dove into and cleaned him up. Who freed him from the unbearable burden of Jessica's death.

She'd stayed with him through so much already. From risking her life so he could get in a shot in at Flynn as the Hindenburg burned to letting Flynn take her to "it would be worth it to have Jessica back." She'd never left his side. Not for long at least and, if for long then, not by choice. She had dealt with so much of his shit and now she had so much more to cope with of her own. How could he do this to her? How could he have gone to her for help?

He knew the answer. He _knew._ He loved her. He loved her and he couldn't imagine not including her in any problem, especially one as monumental as this one. She was an essential part of his life now and he had no idea how to reconcile that with the newfound knowledge that his wife was still alive.

Leaving her, a half hour ago, had killed him. He'd wanted to kiss her. He was afraid of what he'd find at this address and how it would effect the two of them. But she'd stepped away from him and goddammit he already missed her. She'd been there. She'd talked to him, helped him even, but she was already putting distance between them. Protecting herself.

He couldn't blame her for that.

To leave her like that, in clear pain and trying desperately to protect her heart that was already so bruised, rebelled against every fiber of his being. Everything in him shouted to stay. To hold her.

But even if he'd stayed, it wouldn't have helped. She kept telling him that he needed answers and that was true. But he wasn't the only one that needed those answers. Lucy needed them too.

If he stayed and they continued to know nothing about Jessica, she would retreat so far inward that they would practically be strangers. He refused to let that happen.

But wouldn't he have to let go of her at some point? If the best case scenario he hoped for was true, then wouldn't that mean letting Lucy go? That's what pre-Arkansas-1934 Wyatt would have done. Hell, maybe even pre-Benedict-Arnold Wyatt would have done that.

But the Wyatt he was now, the Wyatt who had already abandoned his friends once to save Jessica, the Wyatt who'd realized the person he was meant to be, the Wyatt who would have given anything for Lucy to have her sister back. That Wyatt couldn't--and wouldn't--let his historian go.

His hand stilled over the radio dial in his stolen car as that realization struck him. What did that mean? What about Jessica?

With her now alive he supposed he had to ask himself one question.

Was he still in love with Jessica?

The answer came back to him faster than he thought it would.

A part of him would always love her, but he wasn't _in love_ with her. And if he were honest with himself, they'd been growing apart long before her "death." He'd buried that truth under his guilt once she died. But now that she was alive, the truth was back. Loud and clear.

He still needed his answers and, if Jessica needed help, he'd help her. But she deserved to know the truth. She deserved to hear it from him.

He'd fallen in love with someone else.

An hour later he found the address from the intel they'd stolen. It was a run down motel with a blinking vacancy sign. He parked and waited. Several more hours passed and, just as he felt like giving up, a female figure left one of the rooms. When she stepped into the light he knew immediately who it was and his breath caught in his throat. For the first time since Christopher had told them about the intel he had proof. He had one answer. _How did they know it was actually her_? He didn't have to wonder anymore. It was her. He'd obsessively stared at pictures of that face for years. He'd memorized every line of that face long before that, though. When things between them were new and exciting, he'd forced himself to memorize every detail.

That was Jessica.

The hair was darker and shorter but he knew her face.

She got in a beat up junker of a car and he followed her. He followed her for about fifteen minutes until she parked outside of a bar. She walked around the back, tying an apron as she went. He could put it all together. She was going to work. He parked a block away and then made his way inside the bar. They had just opened for the day but they had a pretty good crowd. It wasn't really a dive bar or a swanky bar. It was just nice enough to be considered "vintage" by the hipster crowd and they seemed to be okay with day drinking from what he could see.

Honestly, he wouldn't mind a drink himself. His head was a spinning mess of confusion.

He spotted Jessica as a door opened that was labeled "office" and she stepped behind the bar. He stood there just watching her for several minutes as she chatted and made drinks. She laughed and smiled like she hadn't a care in the world. Like she hadn't faked her death and left a husband in the dust.

He tried not to be noticed but his sullen stare must have been more obvious than he liked because she looked up and looked over. Her eyes found his and he didn't even try to look away. Panic flashed briefly across her eyes before she excused herself from her current customer and then rushed toward the office.

His brow furrowed. What the hell? He ran out the front door of the bar just in time to hear tires squealing. Her car may have looked like a junker but it was certainly fast. Why would she run away? He cursed and ran back to his stolen car and drove back to the hotel where he'd found her. By the time he got there her junker was nowhere to be found and the door to the room he'd see her come out of was wide open. He kept a hand on his side arm as he entered the open door, unsure of what he would find.

And what he found? Wasn't much.

She'd cleaned out the room. He smelled smoke and raced into the bathroom to find a metal trash can with a small fire burning inside of it. He doused it with water and carried it out of the bathroom. As he left the bathroom he spotted a wall with small bit of paper and string pinned to it. When he stepped closer he could spot thumbtacks on the floor. He remembered his own wall of evidence in his old apartment and it would have left his wall looking just like that if he'd ever taken it down. He looked down at the smoking trash bin in his hands and wondered just what she'd been piecing together.

Whatever it was, she didn't want him to know about it.

He scanned the room and found it empty, except for two items on the bed. A phone and a ring. His brow furrowed as he stepped closer. Not just any ring either, _his wedding ring._ The one he thought he'd lost on their last attempt at a vacation before he'd lost her. Back then, he'd thought if they could get away from real life for a week they could get back to the way they used to be. He'd been wrong and they came back angrier than when they left. She had been _pissed at him_ for losing that ring.

Turns out, he never lost it. _She took it._

Why?

They'd been back from that trip two days when they'd had their biggest blow up yet and she'd insisted on getting out of the car and walking home. She'd run into an ex and flirted with the guy all night long. When he'd asked her what she was doing, she'd replied with a scoff and, "You lost your ring, so I lost mine." She'd held up her left hand just to prove that her ring finger was, in fact, empty and then rolled her eyes at him.

And _that_ was just the beginning of the fight.

He picked up the wedding band and studied it. Jessica had their initials inscribed on the inside of it. He checked and the inscription was there. He put it on his finger and it fit the same. It was definitely his ring. So, he hadn't lost it at all. She'd taken it and hidden it from him, and then used it to start a fight?

 _Why_?

He sighed irritably and picked up the phone from the bed. There was nothing on it. No pictures, no numbers. It was a burner.

But there was a voicemail alert. He sat down on the bed and pressed play. He wasn't sure if he was ready for this.

There was silence on the line for a moment and then, "Don't follow me. Don't look for me. I'm fine. _Please_. It's better this way."

That was it. That was all she was going to say? She hadn't mentioned any names which said to him, she was afraid someone else might find the voicemail or was listening to her call. So maybe she wanted to say more and couldn't or maybe she was saying as little as possible to string him along. None of this made sense when he thought about the Jessica he knew.

But this _wasn't_ the Jessica he knew. That much was clear. He didn't know how to think or feel about that.

He searched the phone for any other clues. There was nothing. He pocketed it just in case. Maybe Rufus could find some use for it. There was nothing else for him here. She had bolted.

He went back to the bar to ask the manager a few questions. He pretended to be a creep trying to get the pretty bar tender's number. The manager, a creep himself, hadn't complied but he had given him a name. _Amanda_. Just like the intel said. He confirmed that Amanda had been working at the bar for six months, and always worked the same shift.

"If you find her," the manager said with a sneer. "Tell her she's fired."

He didn't think "Amanda" was too worried about that right now but Wyatt nodded and said he would. He sighed and left the bar with a shake of his head. He'd gotten very few answers and ended up with many more questions. When he got back to the car he checked the burner he had for himself. No calls. The Mothership must have been mercifully quiet today.

He needed help sorting out what he found and he knew his friends could help him. Maybe there was something still left in that trash bin he'd taken. Or something on the burner phone in his pocket. He needed to get back to the bunker and find out. Something about this entire situation wasn't sitting well with him and the glass half full approach he'd tried to take was quickly becoming glass half empty.


	3. Chapter 3

(3/6)

He drove back to the bunker with his mind swimming and rapidly trying to piece together what he'd learned. The more he thought, the more upset he became. The more things he'd hoped were lies became truth and the more truth became lies. The world flipped on its axis and he felt like it was spinning in a whole new direction.

The minute he parked outside the bunker Christopher's guards were on him. He grabbed the trash bin out of the passenger seat and let them escort him back down into the bunker. As they left him at the entrance, the alarm that the Mothership had jumped sounded and Wyatt took off toward the main bank of monitors.

He found Jiya studying the screen.

"Where-- _when_ did Emma go this time?" He asked breathlessly as he set the metal trash bin on the desk next to Jiya.

"Uh, hi Wyatt," Jiya said with a small nervous wave. She looked at him once, quickly, before looking back at the monitor.

He furrowed his brow at her. What was with her? "Hi, so when and where?"

"The Mothership just landed in 2018," she told him as she avoided turning to face him.

"What?"

Jiya sighed and shook her head. "Look around, Wyatt, what's missing?"

At her words he finally looked up at the space where the Lifeboat usually sat. There was no Lifeboat. Just an empty circular room. No. No, no, _no_.

He closed his eyes and swallowed thickly. Goddammit. "I told her to call me. I gave her my damn number."

Jiya looked genuinely surprised by that. "Who? Lucy?"

"No, Emma," he threw back bitingly. "Of course, I meant Lucy."

Jiya said nothing but the stony glare on her face told him all he needed to know.

"Sorry," he said with a huff. "Weird day."

"I get it, Wyatt, I do. But I'm your friend so try and treat me like one, okay?" Jiya asked in a stern voice.

He grinned slightly at that and nodded. "Okay." A thought suddenly struck him and he gave Jiya a concerned glance. "Wait, if I'm not with them then who--"

"Please don't ask," Jiya said with a wince. "Cause then I'll have to tell you and you'll start pacing and snapping at me and I really don't want to--"

"Who, Jiya?" He asked again. He had a feeling he knew the answer but he prayed he was wrong.

"Who else were they going to get on such short notice that was trained for covert operations and has experience with time travel?" Jiya asked as she gave him a pointed look.

He wasn't wrong. His fears were confirmed. He took a moment to quietly seethe before his frustration finally exploded.

"Are you _kidding_ me?" Wyatt asked with barely withheld rage as he started to pace, just as Jiya predicted. "Christopher sent Lucy and Rufus into the past with _Garcia Flynn?_ "

"She didn't have a choice," Jiya told him. "Would you rather they go alone?"

He shook his head and scoffed. "Please tell me they went back to some semi-peaceful time? Something less dangerous than Nazi Germany or the French-Indian War?"

Jiya looked away from him again and he knew then that Flynn being on that mission instead of him wasn't going to be the _worst part_ of all of this.

"1692, Massachusetts. The Salem Witch Trials."

_Fuck._

"She should have called me. I gave her that number for this reason. Why the hell didn't she call me? Christopher may not have had a choice, Jiya, but Lucy damn well did. Why didn't she call me?"

He was pissed and worried and nearing frantic. They couldn't go into something like that without him! There were too many variables, too many risks. He didn't know much about the Salem Witch Trials but he'd seen _The Crucible_. He'd watched Winona Ryder target women she didn't like or women she knew were outcasts. Lucy was headstrong and opinionated and not a typical woman of the Colonial era plus she would have just dropped out of the sky in the middle of an epidemic of paranoia. She was a low-risk target for the people of Salem. So was Rufus for that matter. If Flynn really wanted to hurt them then this was his opportunity.

Lucy had to have known all of this. She was ridiculously brilliant. She knew the risks and yet she hadn't called him. He hated this. He hated everything about this. He should never have left. What was he thinking?

"I heard you were back."

He turned to find Agent Christopher staring at him like a disappointed parent.

"I left her a number. I told her to call me."

At that statement Christopher's glare softened. "And you thought she actually would?"

Ouch. That felt like a punch to the gut. She was right. He should have known Lucy would sacrifice her safety for him. She'd done that more than once already.

"She told me she would."

"You know her better than me," Christopher said as she patted his arm sympathetically. "So, who am I to say? But if I were Lucy, who's lost so much already, I would be guarding myself against any additional losses and if I could do that, while convincing myself I was actually helping someone I cared deeply about, I wouldn't hesitate. Not for a moment."

A strong gust of air nearly knocked the three of them down when the Lifeboat suddenly landed. Wyatt raced forward and rolled the stairs into position as the hatch opened. Rufus was out first and raced down the stairs.

"Not sure how this is gonna work in the bunker instead of Mason, but we need a medic," Rufus called out as he reached then last step.

Dread. Solid, hot, painful dread. It filled Wyatt to the brim. Rufus looked frantic and harried as he ran past Wyatt to Jiya and Christopher.

"What the hell happened?" Christopher asked.

Just then Flynn emerged from the Lifeboat with Lucy tucked gently into his side. Her left hand had a death grip on her right arm and Flynn was pulling her through the hatch with an arm around her waist. Moving her slowly and carefully, with more care and concern than Wyatt expected. The dread was met for a brief moment by jealousy but that faded quickly when he got a good look at Lucy.

She looked shaken and white as a sheet as Flynn stood by her side steadying her. But she was standing and that was a good sign as far as Wyatt was concerned. Flynn didn't say a word as he helped Lucy down the stairs one at a time. She'd yet to look at Wyatt even once.

If he wasn't afraid of hurting her he would have snatched her out of Flynn's hold already. That bastard goes on a mission with his team and of all missions that's the one where Lucy is hurt?

"Not sure," Lucy said with a gulp and a tiny smirk as she answered Christopher's earlier question. "But I think I was shot."

Everything in him goes cold. He barely registers Christopher saying she keeps field medics on call while they're gone on missions. He doesn't notice when the agent sprints toward the bunker exit. His world has now narrowed to just Lucy and Flynn.

Shot? He wasn't there and she caught a bullet? Where? How serious was it? How was she still standing? Wyatt forced his way between Flynn and Lucy as he was unable to stay away any longer.

Flynn rolled his eyes as he was pushed aside. "She's fine, Master Sergeant. It's not a fatal wound."

Wyatt ignored him, for fear he might punch him instead, and led Lucy to the nearest chair.

As soon as she was seated he untied the handkerchief that had been hastily wrapped around her arm. He grabbed scissors from the nearest desk and quickly cut away her soiled sleeve. There hadn't been much blood before but it was flowing now. He used the discarded handkerchief to apply pressure as blood seeped from the hole in her arm.

"Dammit, Lucy," he said with a furrowed brow and a concerned gaze. "Why didn't you call me?"

She blinked slowly and hissed in pain. "Y-you had your own problems."

He scoffed and shook his head. "Anything that affects you and your safety _is_ my problem. You know how this works, ma'am."

"You'd only been gone a few m-minutes," she argued with a wince and a stutter. "You needed more time."

He never got a chance to refute that argument because Agent Christopher came back in with two field medics. The officers took Wyatt's place in front of Lucy and got to work. He paced and watched and never once let his eyes leave her. Flynn was right. The wound wasn't fatal.

But it shouldn't have happened.

He turned on Flynn with an irate glare and stepped into the taller man's space. "How did you let this happen? All the missions I've been on with her and she's never once been shot!"

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Christopher ready herself to step between them.

"Then maybe, Wyatt, the question isn't how did I let this happen," Flynn asked with a vindictive smile. "But how did _you_?"

A second before Wyatt reached to grab Flynn by the collar of his obnoxious leather duster, Rufus grabbed his arm.

"He's not worth it, man," Rufus told him urgently. "Come on. Not here." Rufus leaned toward his ear and spoke his next word's quietly. "Lucy's watching."

He glanced behind him and sure enough Lucy's watery eyes were following his every movement. He fisted his hands at his sides and took several steps back. Lucy didn't need additional stress right now.

Besides, the psycho was right. This wasn't Flynn's fault. _It was his._


	4. Chapter 4

(4/6)

Lucy remembered running for her life. Bonnet gone, hair flying around her face as she ran. She remembered literal torches and pitchforks chasing them into the woods. They'd freed the "witches" or some of them, including herself and Rufus. They were the ultimate evil at this point. She worried that all they'd done was make this situation worse. She was afraid when she looked up this moment in history when she got home, she'd find many more lives lost.

But she couldn't let those women die. They were innocent. Wyatt wouldn't have let those people die.

That seemed to be her philosophy for this entire mission. What would Wyatt do? She'd been reckless and quick tempered and found herself accused of being a witch. _Of course._

She'd fallen behind in the running due to the weight of her skirts. She could see Rufus and Flynn in front of her. The Lifeboat was also now in her field of vision. Just a little further and they'd be home free. They all joked about the bunker being a hellhole, but she'd give anything for that hellhole right now. Absolutely anything.

She was with in a few feet of the Lifeboat when it happened. She felt the shot more than she heard it. She felt it like an explosive in her arm. As if she were being pulled apart from the inside out. She cried out and instinctively brought her other hand to her arm. She'd stumbled from the force of the shot but a split second later, Flynn was there. He helped her to her feet and into the Lifeboat.

"What the hell happened?" Rufus asked.

"Shut the damn door!" Flynn shouted in response.

As soon as the hatch closed Flynn turned to look at her wound.

"She's been shot," he told Rufus before he shook his head at Lucy. "I should have kept you in front of me," Flynn muttered before he pulled a handkerchief out of the pocket of his duster. "Move your hand."

"What are you going to do?" Lucy asked with a suspicious glance. She may be in pain but she was still wary of him.

"Move. Your. Hand."

His voice was angry and harsh. Not at all like Wyatt. God, she missed him. When she didn't move her hand Flynn wrenched it away from her arm. Tears sprang to her eyes at the jolt of pain and she let out a startled shout.

Rufus turned from where he was preparing the controls to glare at Flynn. "What are you doing?"

"Be the pilot, Rufus. Mind your business."

"Man, she's my friend and I don't care how many people you've killed if you hurt her--"

"I am trying to help her! If you'd both shut the hell up and do as I say!"

Rufus gave Lucy a questioning glance. He'd been doing that a lot this jump. He trusted her, not Flynn. She gave him a small nod.

"It's okay, Rufus. Get the Lifeboat started," Lucy told him with a gulp and a hiss.

She sat quietly after that and let Flynn examine her arm.

"Bullet's still in your arm," he told her. "But it didn't hit anything vital. You'll live." He tied the handkerchief around her wound tightly. Too tightly, she thought. She moved to loosen it but he grabbed her hand. "The pressure will slow the bleeding."

He tossed her hand aside when he was certain she wouldn't untie the handkerchief and then angrily buckled her into her seat. She wanted to stop him. She wanted to do it herself. It wasn't right for Flynn to buckle her in. She only let _Wyatt_ do that. But when she moved to do it Flynn pinned her good arm to her side.

"You'll aggravate the wound. Stop."

She hated this. She hated _him_. She had no real reason to. He'd been helpful. He'd saved their lives. But he wasn't _Wyatt._

Flynn sat down in Wyatt's seat and buckled himself in as the Lifeboat roared into action. One slow moment of seasickness later and they stopped. The hatch opened and Rufus ran out the door first. She heard him tell Christopher they needed a medic. The adrenaline of running through the woods in 1692 was fading now and she felt sick. She felt lightheaded and off balance. She reached for her seatbelt just as Flynn did and he once again pinned her good arm down.

"Be still," he ordered. But the order didn't sound angry as his other's had. It sounded sympathetic. "Let me help you."

Despite the voice in her head telling her not to, the voice that sounded a lot like Wyatt, she nodded and relaxed in the seat. She was too exhausted to move anyway.

He wordlessly helped her up and out of her seat and the Lifeboat. As they reached the top of the stairs, she tensed. Because there, at the bottom, waiting for her was Wyatt.

She looked away quickly. She didn't want to look at him. She was afraid of what he would think or feel. She was afraid of what he'd found while he'd been gone.

The more the rush and adrenaline from the mission faded the less awareness she had. Her vision went a bit fuzzy around the edges but somehow she'd been passed from Flynn to Wyatt and then led to a chair. Wyatt was talking to her and she was answering him. But it was all automatic. She wasn't able to really think through her answers. She was half conscious and weak. Most of it she didn't really process but she heard one thing loud and clear.

" _Anything that affects you and your safety is my problem. You know how this works, ma'am."_

Did she know how this worked? She knew how this used to work. Was he telling her nothing had changed? She replied something about him needing more time. She wasn't sure of her words. Then he was gone. She'd lost track of him as two medics and Agent Christopher crowded around her.

She found him again when there was a commotion and Agent Christopher moved out of the way.

He was in Flynn's face with rage contouring his every feature.

"How did you let this happen? All the missions I've been on with her and she's never once been shot!"

"Then maybe, Wyatt, the question isn't how did I let this happen," Flynn asked. The smile on his face told her that Flynn's next words would not be kind. "But how did _you_?"

If she wasn't already in pain, that would have done it. If she were more alert, she would have gotten in Flynn's face herself. How dare he put that on Wyatt. She felt her chest tighten at the look of anger and pain and guilt that flashed across Wyatt's blue eyes all in a span of seconds. Flynn struck a nerve. They all knew it.

Wyatt jerked forward as if he were going to lunge for Flynn but Rufus stopped him. She couldn't quite hear what was being said. The next moment, Wyatt turned to meet her eyes and she wanted to sob. He looked so wounded. She wished she could blame Flynn and his harsh words, but she'd done that to him. Not Flynn.

He told her to call him. He wanted to be with them. She'd taken that choice away from him. How would he ever forgive her for that?

She'd been drugged up and stitched up and sent to bed in the hours that followed. So begging for Wyatt's forgiveness had to wait. But she planned to. She planned to make it clear that the only person at fault here was her.

When she finally woke up and Jiya allowed her to leave their room, she found Wyatt sitting on the floor by the door. He was slumped against the wall, dozing soundly somehow. The floor couldn't have been comfortable...or clean. And his head had dropped at an odd angle. She knelt next to him, careful not to jostle her sling, and brought her good hand to his face.

Whether he'd found Jessica or not, she missed him. She hated jumping without him. She softly caressed his stubbly cheek and then ran that same hand through his hair.

"He's been there all night," Jiya told her from the open doorway. "I told him to sleep in his own bed or the couch but—"

Lucy smiled warmly at Wyatt and then nodded at Jiya. "He wouldn't. I'm not surprised."

"I don't know what's happening with Jessica," Jiya said with a small sigh. "But I do know, he loves you. God, Lucy he was a holy terror during those six weeks you were missing and then yesterday when he came back to find the Lifeboat gone—When it comes to you he's like a tiger in a cage. He wants to spring into action but there's always something in his way. Rittenhouse, himself, a not so dead wife--"

" _Me,"_ Lucy agreed. "I get in his way sometimes. Yesterday, for example."

"Yeah, he mentioned something about giving you a number to reach him," Jiya said as she gave Lucy a scolding stare.

She nodded. "He did. I threw it out. It was stupid. Awful. Hurtful, even. But...how can I ask him to be a part of my life when he finally has his own back? How can I risk being this close to him when I'm highly likely to lose him? Sometimes it feels like he's all I have left." Her eyes were watering now as she stared at his exhausted face. She was surprised they hadn't woken him. He was usually a light sleeper.

"Hey," Jiya said in a tone louder than the soft whisper they'd been speaking in. She obviously wanted Lucy's attention. Lucy looked up at her curiously. "He's not _all_ you have left. You have me. You have Rufus. We're here for you too."

"I know," Lucy told her with a warm smile.

"Do you? Because I worry sometimes that maybe you don't."

Lucy stood from where she had crouched next to Wyatt and then hugged Jiya with her good arm. " _I know."_

"Good," Jiya said as she carefully returned the hug. "It was awful being the only woman here for 6 weeks and if we lost you again I think I might be forced kill Wyatt and Mason. They drove me crazy."

Lucy laughed lightly as they pulled out of their hug. "Well, we couldn't have that. Could we?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: the "what would wyatt do" thought here that Lucy has totally came from a discussion with Iambeck. It was so good that I had to borrow it. Happy reading!


	5. Chapter 5

(5/6)

Wyatt felt a soft hand on his cheek. He knew that hand. She'd caressed his cheek so many times by now that he knew. _Lucy_. He didn't dare open his eyes. He was afraid if he did she'd stop. Her touch was all too comforting after the last 24 hours and he knew the minute he woke up she'd pull back. Put up a wall between them to shield herself. The hand moved from his cheek to his hair and he had to fight to keep from leaning into her or reaching out to pull her into his arms. God, he needed her so much more than he'd initially realized.

"He's been there all night. I told him to sleep in his own bed or the couch but..."

Jiya. Now Jiya was there too. Lucy kept running her hand through his hair though so he wasn't going to interrupt.

"He wouldn't. I'm not surprised." Her tone sounded so warm and affectionate. He wanted to hear that tone directed at him, not about him. How could he fix that? How could he make sure she knew...

"I don't know what's happening with Jessica," Jiya said with a small sigh. "But I do know, he loves you. God, Lucy he was a holy terror during those six weeks you were missing and then yesterday when he came back to find the Lifeboat gone--When it comes to you he's like a tiger in a cage. He wants to spring into action but there's always something in his way. Rittenhouse, himself, a not so dead wife--"

" _Me,"_ Lucy agreed. "I get in his way sometimes. Yesterday, for example."

The fact that Jiya saw through him so clearly bothered Wyatt very slightly. He'd been trained to hide his feelings in crisis situations but apparently when it came to Lucy no amount of training would do. He also hated the desolate sadness in Lucy's tone. How did she get in his way? He got in his own way. Yes, she hadn't called him but he shouldn't have left. He'd come back with nothing to show for it anyway. What was the point?

"Yeah, he mentioned something about giving you a number to reach him.".

"He did. I threw it out. It was stupid. Awful. Hurtful, even. But...how can I ask him to be a part of my life when he finally has his own back? How can I risk being this close to him when I'm highly likely to lose him? Sometimes it feels like he's all I have left."

He could hear the tears in her voice. They physically hurt him. His muscles ached to reach for her. Goddammit, he needed to hold her. _Right now._ He was about to open his eyes and admit he'd heard everything when Jiya spoke up in a louder and more forceful tone than either of them had used so far.

"Hey, he's not _all_ you have left. You have me. You have Rufus. We're here for you too."

"I know," Lucy told her.

There was hope and warmth in her tone again and all Wyatt could think was, _thank god for Jiya_.

"Do you? Because I worry sometimes that maybe you don't."

Lucy stood and removed her hand from his hair. He missed the contact and the scent of her next to him, but he would never deny Lucy a genuine moment of friendship. She needed that from all of them now more than ever.

" _I know."_

"Good, it was awful being the only woman here for 6 weeks and if we lost you again I think I might be forced kill Wyatt and Mason. They drove me crazy."

Their voices were muffled and Wyatt assumed they were hugging.

Lucy laughed lightly and the sound lifted a small weight from his chest.

"Well, we couldn't have that. Could we?"

"I'd like to see her try," Wyatt mumbled from his position on the floor. He'd forced a groggy sleepy tone to his voice so the women would think he'd just woken up. Eavesdropping probably wasn't something either of them approved of. He opened one eye and smirked at Jiya as he waited for her reply. He knew she'd have one.

"Excuse me, but I'm a genius," Jiya told him with a playful glare. "I could do it."

"Of course you could," he said sarcastically as he pulled away from the wall and rolled his neck. He was definitely stiff. Sleeping on the floor had seemed like the only option last night, but he knew he'd be feeling it today.

"You have the hand to hand training, Logan," Jiya said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "But I have mad skills too and I could totally MacGyver you to death."

"Yeah? Did you break out of a black site prison with nothing but a paper clip?"

"Did _you_ build a computer from spare parts in a supply closet and shut down a large portion of the power grid? I saved all of your asses, you know."

Lucy laughed and shook her head at the both of them. They turned to her with curious stares.

"What?" Wyatt asked with a small smile. After everything she'd been through hearing her laugh would always be rewarding.

"This is just an utterly ridiculous conversation, is all," Lucy said with a chuckle and a shrug. "I keep asking myself how this turned out to be my life."

"Clearly," Jiya said as she pointed to herself. "You were just meant to blessed by my beautiful presence every day and fate had to see to it that we met. Am I right or am I right?"

Wyatt grinned and chuckled at her. "I think you're mistaking Lucy for Rufus."

"Yep," Jiya said with a smirk. "That's the mistake I'm making." She backed away from them toward the kitchen before adding. "Or, you know, I could be talking about the _two of you_."

She sprinted off before they could react and left them staring at each other awkwardly in the hallway.

Wyatt cleared his throat and then scratched the back of his neck. He pointed at her sling before he continued. "How's your arm?"

"Fine, I guess," she said a small grin. "As good as it can be, considering."

The reminder of her wounded arm brought on the guilt again and it was palpable between them. There was a moment of tense silence before they both began speaking at once.

" _I shouldn't have left."_

" _I should have called you."_

Their gazes met and Lucy furrowed her brow at him. "What? Wyatt, you had to go. All you've wanted since you and I met was to fix things with Jessica and now-"

"No," he corrected her. "I wanted to save Jessica. I wanted her alive. And I wanted that because I thought her death was my fault. I just-I thought saving Jessica meant being married to her again. I just assumed." His gaze drifted from Lucy's as he continued.

Looking back now, he wasn't proud of the man he'd been with Jessica or the way he'd reacted to her death, but he couldn't change that. He could only move forward and Lucy deserved to know. She deserved to know it all.

"But...we had problems long before she got out of that damn car. Big ones. Heartbreaking ones. We were trying or...maybe just I was trying. It's hard to tell now, but nothing was working. I'd fallen out of love with her at some point and I knew it," he admitted with a deep breath. He'd never told anyone that before. It was a thought he saved for the deepest and darkest parts of his heart. It was a thought he'd always considered shameful in light of her death.

"But then when she went missing, after I'd just left her on the side of the road-I thought I deserved to be punished for it. It was my fault and if it was my fault I didn't deserve to be happy. I didn't deserve to live. I drowned myself in the good memories and willingly let rose colored glasses change my perception of who we'd been together. So much so, that by the time you came along I'd actually convinced myself that Jessica and I had some fairy tale love story. What's that saying? Tell enough lies and you start to believe them? That was me. That was me _until now_."

"Until now?" Lucy asked as she swallowed thickly and took one step toward him. One step closer than she'd been since he'd decided to go find Jessica.

"The minute I left, I couldn't stop thinking about you," he told her with a shake of his head. "I didn't want to leave you. I almost turned around and came back so many times. I realized that there was absolutely nothing-no not-dead wife, no secret shadowy organization, no psychotic terrorist with a grudge-that could convince me to give you up. I couldn't do it. I mean, I couldn't even imagine wrapping my head around this whole Jessica thing without you right there next to me. I felt horrible for going to you for help but I couldn't imagine a world where I didn't include you in that. So, what does that all mean? The answer came back pretty quickly and I felt like an ass for even having to think about it."

Lucy tried to interrupt him then but he shook his head at her. She needed honesty. Even if she doubted him, she needed to hear it.

"I love you, Lucy," he told her, he made sure to meet her eyes so she could see the sincerity of it in his gaze. "This mess with Jessica doesn't change that. It can't. Because you are so vital to who I am and who I want to be that there's no way I could do any of this without you. Not without becoming who I used to be and I've come so far from that guy. It wasn't Jessica's death that did that to me. Yeah, it didn't help, but I was _that guy_ long before she disappeared. The only time _that guy_ changed and grew was when he met _you_. So, you can doubt me. You can ask me to prove to you that I'm serious. I'll do it. I'll do whatever you need me to do. Because you don't need to protect yourself from me, Lucy. I'm not going anywhere. The life that I want is right here with you. Even if that means living in this hellhole of a bunker for the rest of eternity."

He tossed her a small smirk at that last line, hoping to add some levity to the moment. Her eyes were now wide and wet and her mouth was agape with such a look of disbelief. He knew that disbelief was justified. He'd reinforced in her a fear of Jessica. From the very beginning he'd led her to believe that the minute Jessica showed up he was gone. And maybe in the beginning that was true, but she'd changed him so completely. Going back to Jessica wasn't an option. He hadn't been happy with Jessica, he saw that now. The only times in his life that he'd felt truly and wonderfully happy had been with _Lucy_.

"I-I'm not sure I know what to say," Lucy said as she ran a shaky hand over her face. She gave him a weak grin before she continued. "That was a lot."

He chuckled and lifted one shoulder to hide his nerves and his rapidly beating heart. "For me too."

There was a long silent moment and Wyatt wondered if the conversation was over. He wondered if leaving the bunker had caused him to lose her forever. He was just about to excuse himself to give her some time alone when she let out a small soft sigh and met his eyes again.

"I love you too, Wyatt," Lucy told him with a soft smile. "Of course I do. And yes, Jessica was an obstacle for me when she was this perfect memory you kept so close. I know that when you lose people you don't ever really let them go, and I understand that but you took it to such an extreme that you literally put your entire life on pause for her. You risked imprisonment for her. You risked everything you knew for her-Rufus, your career, me. It's hard to accept that you can really move on from being that desperate."

Her soft smile had turned down and her brow was furrowed as she spoke and maybe for the first time he was really seeing how hard that had been on her. She stepped into his space as her expression warmed and turned affectionate. Her hand was on his cheek again just as it had been while she'd thought he was sleeping.

"But, and I was never sure why, when you came back from that black site you were different," Lucy told him with a gentle smile. "I don't know how to explain but it was like you _saw_ me. I was real for you. I don't know what it was but it gave me hope, little by little. And I won't lie to you, when I thought I had lost those possibilities you talked about it nearly broke me. Thinking you were dead for six weeks was so awful. It physically hurt. I thought I had missed a chance at something really special. And then suddenly I hadn't lost you at all, you were real for me too and right there in front of me. I think when I left that artillery tent I convinced myself I'd dreamed it. But it wasn't a dream and you brought me home," she paused and took a deep breath. Her hand moved from his cheek, to his shoulder, and then down to cover his heart. "Not home to this depressing hole or home to 2018. No, just _home_. To you. You keep bringing me home. Do you know that? I've been so adrift since I got back and the only thing holding me steady has been you. Every time I feel myself floating away suddenly you're there and I'm home."

Unable to keep himself from touching her anymore he brought his hand up to cover hers as it rested over his heart. He could feel tears in his eyes because he was reliving everything he'd watched her go through the past few weeks. Any pain she felt, he felt it too. But she was here and she was safe and she was healing.

"But that sense of home was flipped upside down the minute Jessica's name left Agent Christopher's lips," she told him with a shuddering sigh. "I-I just knew that all of this was over. I could see you needed me and I wanted to be there for you. I really did-"

"You were, Lucy, you were," he assured her as he brought her hand to his lips. She shook her head at him like she didn't believe him. As if she knew better than he did.

"But when you left...I really thought that if I didn't force myself to learn how to do all of this without you then I'd lose whatever heart I had left. So I started shutting you out. Forcing your memory away. I didn't call you because I couldn't have you too close if you weren't going to stay. I couldn't fight Rittenhouse and a broken heart. Not at the same time," she admitted as her face crumpled and a few silent tears fell. She took a deep breath to shore up her strength and continued. "But that wasn't really my choice. Your job is to keep the team safe and it hurts you so much when you can't. I-I took that away from you for my own selfish reasons. It's unforgivable because now you think that _this_ ," she said as she motioned to her sling. "Is your fault. It's not your fault, if it's anyone's fault it's my own. Well, no actually, the fault belongs to the asshole who shot me, but it's my fault for breaking up the team. Things might have been different if I'd called you or maybe they wouldn't have been but now we'll never know. And I have to live with that."

He held tighter to her hand and laced his fingers through hers before she continued.

"So, I guess, if you can forgive me for shutting you out," Lucy said with a small smile. "Then I can have faith that everything you're telling me is true."

He felt a quick thrill at those words and wondered if they meant what he thought they meant. He brought his free hand to the side of her face and gently ran his thumb across her cheek. "Lucy, what are you—what are you saying?"

"You came back, Wyatt. You came back and you took care of me and you slept on the floor outside of my bedroom!" she laughed a little at that and shook her head. "Even after I broke a promise to you, you took care of me. I wouldn't have asked you to do anything to prove yourself, Wyatt. I don't need that. But if I had, god you've already done that a thousand times over. If you say that I'm what you what," she said with a happy sigh before she chuckled and motioned to their grimey surroundings. "That _this_ is what you want then I believe you and I want you too."

He didn't need to hear anything else to ease his worries. That was all he ever needed. He immediately closed the distance between them with a kiss. She released his hand to wrap her good arm around his neck and both of his arms found her waist. This kiss was giddy and intrusive and so very lightweight. The heavy weights of loss and regret had lifted and it created something that had felt miles away for so long. It created a sense of freedom. They had freedom to enjoy the present because the future wasn't decided and the past no longer mattered.

It was everything they'd both been searching for and they'd finally found it...in each other.

He still had to catch her up on Jessica and they had to make a plan for how to confront it but for right now this was enough. This was perfect.


	6. Chapter 6

(6/6)

Wyatt didn't get around to telling her anything about Jessica until much later. Not that Lucy minded at all. They'd passed the time in a very satisfying way. Kissing until they needed air and then relocating to Lucy and Jiya's room for an only slightly more comfortable situation. It wasn't as nice as 1941 Hollywood but it would do.

Now they were lounging on her bed with Lucy's back against Wyatt's chest as she sat between his legs. His flannel button up was now draped around her shoulders while his arms were wrapped around her waist. It was quiet and peaceful and Lucy knew she was about to ruin it. But she had to know.

"What happened when you left?" She asked softly as she nestled further into him.

"Not much," he answered honestly. "The address was a motel, I waited till I saw her leave, I followed her to a bar, went inside and tried to do some surveillance but she made me and then she ran," he told her with a bitter chuckle. "So, no answers. I did go back to that motel, though, and find her room. She's left a few things behind for me."

"Like what?" Lucy asked as she turned slightly to look Wyatt in the eye.

"Well, she left some burning evidence that Mason started going through last night, a burner phone, and...this." He sighed tiredly and then reached into the pocket of his jeans. He dropped the round object into her hand and she knew immediately what it was.

"Is this..."

"My wedding ring," he said with a nod. "Yes, it is. I thought I'd lost it and when she found out it was one of our worst fights ever."

"But if she had it this whole time," Lucy said with a thoughtful furrowed brow. "Then you never really lost it."

"That's the conclusion I came to as well," he said with a confused shake of his head.

"So, she took it and then picked a fight over you losing it?" Lucy asked. "Why would someone do something like that?"

"Ya got me," Wyatt said with a roll of his eyes. "I'm having a hard time understanding any of this. I mean my original theory was that she was on the run from Rittenhouse. But if that was the case why would she run when she saw me?"

"Unless she's trying to protect you?" Lucy asked. "Give you plausible deniability with Rittenhouse? If they're after her then staying away from you could keep you safe."

She suggested that so fast that he knew that wasn't the first time she'd had that thought. But probably not in reference to Jessica.

"Lucy," he said with a nervous gulp. "Just so we're clear, and because I don't like how fast you suggested that, if you ever run away I'm coming after you. Plausible deniability and my safety be damned."

She stiffened in his arms and knew she'd been caught. She turned again and placed a lingering kiss on the hinge of his jaw before meeting his worried blue eyes with her brown ones.

"It was never a serious thought," she promised. "Just once right after I came home. Right before you found me in here on that first night actually."

"Good," he said as he voice caught just slightly. "The idea of not knowing where you are after having already been through six weeks of that is worse than anything Rittenhouse could do to me. I promise you that." He placed a kiss to her temple and then brought them back on topic. "It didn't seem like she was protecting me. It seemed like she was _caught_. Besides, the way she faked her death was just too...elaborate. Do you know what kind of strings you'd have to pull for that?"

He shook his head and closed his eyes and Lucy felt him press his face against her neck. He took a long quiet moment before he lifted his head and spoke up in a raw emotional voice. "I mean I identified her body, Lucy. I went to the morgue and I saw her on a metal slab with these angry red bruises around her ne-- _I saw her._ She was dead."

Lucy's chest ached for him. She could hear tears in his voice and felt the need to hold him. How could you do that to a person? Why would you force that kind of unnecessary pain on them? Lucy decided her back to his front wasn't working for her when his voice sounded that broken. So she turned in his arms and straddled his lap instead. She dropped the wedding ring into the pocket of his borrowed shirt and then brought her hand to his face. She forced him to look up at her and felt tears in her eyes as his now reddened eyes looked back at her.

"You didn't deserve that, Wyatt," Lucy told him in a firm voice. "God, I can't even imagine putting someone I love through that kind of pain."

She caressed his cheek and then ran her hand through his hair, massaging his scalp as she went. Anything to soothe the redness in his eyes and the hurt in his face. He closed his eyes and tightened his arms around her waist as he pressed his forehead to hers. She let him take as long as he needed to recover from the memory of a broken Jessica laying naked and cold in the morgue. It was an awful thought and she hadn't been forced to see it. She felt anger building in her chest and wanted nothing more than to shield Wyatt from ever having to see the woman again.

"It would take money and influence to fake a body and pay off a Medical Examiner," Wyatt finally said with a voice that sounded hoarse but firm. "They even did a goddamn autopsy since her death was so violent. The Medical Examiner had to be in on it. No other way. And Jess and I we didn't--there's no way we would have had the money for that. We barely scraped by."

"The other question that I had," Lucy said as she pulled back from him to look him in the eyes. "If she needed to go on the run, why not ask you to go with her? Aside from being her husband, you're highly trained and more than capable of protecting her or hiding her. I mean, the reason my thought of going on the run wasn't anymore than a fleeting thought was because I knew I was safer _with you_ than I would have been _without you_."

His lips turned up in a soft smile at that admission and he brought a hand up from her waist to tangle in the ends of her hair. "Really?"

She returned his smile and nodded. She placed her hand on the arm that was still around her waist and replied, "This right here, is my safe place, Wyatt. You are my safe place."

He looked ready to lean in and kiss her again and if they did that then they'd never finish this conversation.

"Ah," she said as brought her hand to his shoulder to hold him back. "Hold that thought, Soldier."

He grinned and scoffed at her. "Bossy know it all."

She chuckled and then glared playfully at him. "Reckless hothead."

She hated to take him back to the emotional place he'd been earlier but there was one last thing about all of this that has been bothering her since Agent Christopher found the intel that started all of this.

"I have one final thing," she said reluctantly. "The one thing that, knowing you like I do, has confused me from the start."

Her eyes were reluctant as she chewed on her bottom lip and he prepared himself for whatever emotions she was about to bring up. He knew it was serious. He could see it in her face.

"If all of this, was to escape Rittenhouse and distance herself from you, then why would she fake her death _the way_ that she did?" Lucy asked with an angry shake of her head. "I mean she picks a fight with you, gets out the car, and vanishes for two weeks before finally letting the world think she's dead? I can't--" she stopped and took a calming breath before continuing on. "Wyatt, it makes me so upset because if she knew you at all then she had to know what something like that would do to you! You take on so much. You want to serve and protect, especially those you're closest to. If I know that, then she should have known that. And you're always so hard on yourself--she could have spared you so much pain by faking her death any other way. So why did she choose _that way_?"

Her voice sounded enraged. He'd wager she was just as angry as he'd been with Flynn earlier that day. Her face had flushed and her eyebrows were knitted together. Her hand on his shoulder was now clenched into a tight fist. She was practically shaking with anger.

His emotions were much the same. It was cruel and hurtful but he'd made his peace with the man he'd let all that grief twist him into and he wasn't going to let Jessica being alive drag him back there.

Not when he had a beautiful, feisty, bossy and brilliant as hell historian on his side. Her anger on his behalf caused a swell of affection to rise in his chest. He'd seen her protective side before, but not like this. This side of her was reserved just for him.

He brushed her hair back from her shoulders and then put a hand under her chin to pull her tight pursed lips down to his. She relaxed the minute he kissed her and sunk down against him. He kissed her slow and deep for a long lingering moment before he felt her start to pull away.

"Why aren't you more upset?" She asked.

"Because I don't have to be," Wyatt told her simply. "Yes, you're right, the way she faked her death was unnecessary and it turned me into someone I'm not proud of but I'm not him anymore. You made sure of that," Wyatt told her with a soft smile before he kissed her forehead tenderly. "So, I'm choosing to move forward. I'm choosing to leave all my grief, all my anger, in the past with whatever memories I have of Jessica. I don't need to dwell on that or her anymore. Why spend time on that when I could spend my time on you?"

Lucy's rage slowly faded until a wide smile graced her face and she shook her head at him. "We're adding smooth talker to reckless hothead."

He rubbed her back soothingly and smirked. "Fine by me."

"So in the grand scheme of things where does that leave our theories?" Lucy asked him.

"Our theories are dead," Wyatt told her with a sigh. "There's really only one theory left and it means I owe Agent Christopher an apology."

"Jessica's not on the run from Rittenhouse--"

"She _is_ Rittenhouse."

"Oh god, Wyatt, I'm so sorry," Lucy said as she ran a comforting hand through his hair. "I know that's not what you wanted."

"No, it's not," he agreed. "It means I never really knew Jessica at all."

Lucy laid her head on his shoulder and nodded against him. "I know how that feels."

His hands came up to rest on her back and on her waist. "It's not the best feeling in the world." He paused as an idea struck him. "But her being Rittenhouse could be useful."

Lucy raised her head from his shoulder with a confused expression. "What are you saying? Her being- _useful_?"

"We can use this," he told Lucy with a smirk at her bewildered expression. "We can use _her_."

"Wait," Lucy said with raised eyebrows. Her face looked surprised and doubtful. He could see a little anger in her brown eyes too. He didn't _think_ that anger was for him. "You want to use your not-dead wife to get information on Rittenhouse?"

"Why not?" He asked her with a grin.

"How about this instead," She said with a huff. "We find her, have Christopher arrest her, and then throw her in Flynn's old cell?" Lucy asked him in a half joking tone.

"You're really working hard on that grudge there, huh, Professor?" He asked her with a knowing expression.

She scoffed and then shook her head. "I don't like it."

"Yeah, I have no idea what that's like, Ms. I'll-Go-With-Flynn-In-The-Mothership," he replied with a sarcastic smirk.

She blushed and grimaced at him. "Touché."

"I trusted you then and it worked out, right?" He asked her. "Trust me now, Lucy. This is our way in."

"So, what then? If she reaches out to you again you play the tortured husband?" Lucy asked.

He shrugged. "She must have left me that ring for a reason."

Lucy gave him a long measuring stare before she sighed in resignation and nodded. "Okay, we'll try it and see."

He was just about to seal the deal with a kiss when the door opened and Rufus barged in. "Hey, Lucy have you seen Wya--" Rufus finally looked up and his mouth formed a perfectly shaped surprised circle. "Never mind, found him. Sorry to, uh, _interrupt_ ," Rufus said with a smirk as he motioned to Lucy's position straddling Wyatt's lap. "You two are back on then, I take it?"

"What do you want, Rufus?" Wyatt asked in a flat tone. If Rufus would leave Wyatt could get back to kissing Lucy. He really needed to talk to these people about knocking.

"The phone's ringing," Rufus replied.

Lucy tilted her head at him in confusion and shared a questioning glance with Wyatt before she spoke. "Then maybe you should answer it?"

Rufus narrowed his eyes at her before he shook his head dramatically. "No, not _my phone_ , you idiots. The phone! Jessica's phone! I was gonna start working on it to see what I could find and it started ringing."

Rufus motioned for them to follow and walked away. Lucy took that moment to pull his wedding ring out of the shirt pocket she'd stored it in. She placed it in his hand, and then motioned toward the door.

"We're following your lead on this one," Lucy told him as she carefully climbed off of his lap. "I trust you."

He smiled warmly at her and captured her lips in a quick grateful kiss. "Thank you." He took her hand in his and then followed after Rufus with Lucy in tow.

He wasn't worried. Not about Jessica. He made his choice and he'd found where he was always meant to be. As long as he had that, he could handle anything Rittenhouse threw at him.

_fin._


End file.
